Wednesday, September 23, 2009

A Coffee Bean Grinder Guarantees Freshness

By Ned Dagostino

Coffee will always taste better when it is freshly ground. And having your own coffee bean grinder will guarantee that you can have a fresh cup whenever you desire.

But freshness is only one advantage of grinding your own beans. You will also have total control over how fine you make the grind. That is of paramount importance to coffee lovers everywhere.

So what's holding you back? Perhaps you believe that the process is difficult, or maybe you think it can be messy. Both of those arguments are incorrect.

In fact the only good reason not to grind your own beans is that it's easier to simply open a can and start to brew. This is true, but I believe that once you taste the difference between grinding your own beans and buying canned supermarket beans, you'll wonder why you didn't start earlier.

The reason freshly ground beans taste better is because as soon as the grinding is done, the beans will naturally begin to lose some of the aroma and flavor. And the longer they sit, the more they will lose. If you brew them immediately after grinding, your cup will always taste and smell better.

How the grinder works depends on the type you get. There are two primary choices, the burr grinder and the blade grinder.

The more economical of the two is the blade grinder. Picture a blender, only smaller. The blades inside simply grind up the beans. This is far better than buying canned coffee, but not as good as it could be. The idea when grinding is to get as large a surface area as possible. A larger surface area means more bean is exposed to the hot water, and therefore more oils and flavor can be pulled out during brewing. A blade grinder will produce an uneven grind. And therefore you will get a slightly inferior cup of coffee.

Burr grinders on the other hand are produce a much better grind. Go to your local coffee shop and this is the type of grinder you'll typically find in use. The burrs are precisely and evenly spaced grinding discs made of metal. They will give your beans an even grind, and therefore produce a better cup of coffee. Generally these are adjustable, meaning you can set them for whatever type of coffee you like best. If you like Turkish drip coffee, no problem. If you prefer automatic drip coffee, a burr grinder will produce the grind you need.

Not everybody likes their coffee the same way. In a lot of ways, perfect coffee is very subjective. But something every coffee lover can agree on is that freshly ground coffee just tastes better. So really, whether you get a burr or blade coffee bean grinder, you'll always end up with a cup of coffee that is better than what you currently drink. Try it once and you may never again buy a can of coffee that is already ground.

And just think how much easier it will be to get up when the alarm goes off, knowing you will have a great tasting, fresh cup of coffee available in just minutes.

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